Hockey can be such a strange, counter-intuitive game.

On Wednesday night, the New York Rangers faced off against the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference series, and many of the eyes on the match were trained on Sean Avery of the Rangers and presumptive league MVP Alex Ovechkin of the Caps.

Ovechkin finished a busy night with 26:07 of playing time, 28 attempted shots, 13 actual shots-on-goal, two assists and six hits. Avery played much less, 16:29, with no points, two shots and two hits.

But here's the weird part. Avery might have had more of a defining impact on the game, a 4-3 Ranger triumph. Or at least more of a disruptive impact, that's for sure.

"Oh, was he out there?" said Washington coach Bruce Boudreau afterwards, a rather weak attempt to deflect attention from the Ranger agitator.

Boudreau actually briefly coached Avery in the AHL, and by yesterday at practice, he was acknowledging that the annoying winger was going to be a factor in the series whether the Caps want him to be or not.

"I'm sure Sean is not going to change," said Boudreau.

Just four months ago, of course, some were wondering whether Avery would ever play in the league again after his insulting words towards an ex-girlfriend earned him a league suspension and banishment from the Dallas Stars organization.

Anger management was supposed to be the antidote, but that really seems a lot of hogwash. Avery has returned to do pretty much the same controversial, against-the-code stuff he was doing before.

In Game 1, a neutral observer might have suggested that but for iffy officiating, Avery could just as easily have been the goat. In particular, the zebras totally missed his interference/trip in the second period on Washington defenceman Mike Green that opened the door for the first Rangers goal.

If the correct call gets made there and the Caps score on the power play to go up 2-0, Avery looks like an idiot, not a hero.

Later, in the third, he again did what he either can't stop himself from doing or takes pride in doing over and over again, and that was get involved with the enemy goaltender. He chopped Jose Theodore, the shaky Washington goalie, across the pads after the whistle, then shoved Theodore, then found himself eating ice courtesy of a Sergei Fedorov cross-check.

If Theodore, who allowed four goals on 20 shots, wasn't distracted enough before that incident, he sure was afterwards. Once again, Avery had done his job, albeit with the assistance of the referees, who should by now automatically send him to the box any time he starts one of his stare-downs with the other team's goalie.

He did draw a penalty on Washington defenceman John Erskine that led to a power play goal by ex-Leaf Nik Antropov, and he did send Green cartwheeling into the bench in the third period. Green, a Norris Trophy finalist for sure, was minus-2 on the night and seems likely to be involved with Avery throughout the series.

Ovechkin was his usual spectacular self, and there really wasn't any sense that the Rangers have an effective plan to bottle him up. Then again, nobody does.

But neither is there an antidote for Avery, is there? The hope is that he'll end up getting carried away and make an ass of himself, thus hurting the Rangers more than helping them.

But if he has his act contained, it is undeniably effective, particularly if the referees allow him to start the odd patch of trouble. Washington might hope the return of captain Chris Clark from a wrist injury, a player with a bit of sandpaper in his game, will even matters up.

But the Caps are the team with all the targets, and the Rangers have the Avery Guided Missile. That dynamic isn't going to change.

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